Natural gas remained stable on Tuesday, above $9 per million thermal units on concern that supplies will decline as cold weather moves into the regions of highest consumption.

Gas for March delivery increased by 0.8 cent to $9.194 per million Btu on the New York Mercantile Exchange and April futures increased by 3.3 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $9.251 per million Btu.

The U.S. Climate Prediction Center in Camp Springs, Maryland, forecasted lower than-normal-temperatures to hit the Midwest region.

The EarthSat Energy Weather said March is expected to be colder than the average of the same month for the past 10 years.

Apparently, there is an undersupply of 500 million to 1 billion cubic feet a day in the U.S. since domestic supply is about 2 billion cubic feet a day higher while liquefied natural gas is about 1.5 billion lower and Canadian imports are 1 billion a day.

March Liquefied Natural Gas imports were forecasted to be more than 1 billion cubic feet a day compared to 2.8 billion cubic feet a day in March 2007.

Gas stockpiles declined by 165 cubic feet in the week that ended Feb. 22.

According to AccuWeather.com, temperatures in Chicago were forecasted to be about 29 degrees Fahrenheit by March 4, with a low of 23.

Data from the Energy Department showed that gas is the most widely-used U.S. heating fuel and the third-largest source of electricity, after coal and nuclear plants.

Energy